Woman in shooting case awaiting bond decision

Gregg Pickrell

A decision on whether or not a Rembert woman accused of shooting and killing a 33-year-old man would be granted bond had not been made by press time Friday.

A bond hearing took place Wednesday for Gregg Pickrell, 61, at the Kershaw County Courthouse, but Circuit Court Judge J. Casey Manning decided to take a few days before coming to a decision. As of noon Friday, Kershaw County Detention Center (KCDC) and Fifth Judicial Circuit online records indicated bond had not been set and listed Pickrell still in jail.

She is charged with killing Robert L. Demary of Camden on Sept. 11 at her home on Baynard Boykin Road. Wednesday, Fifth Judicial Circuit Assistant Solicitor Curtis Pauling asked that bond be denied. He said Demary died from a single gunshot in the back.

“He actually had been there the night before and spent the night. Miss Pickrell and the victim were in some sort of relationship,” Pauling said. “They had an employee/employer relationship at some point, judge, but this investigation found it was some sort of sexual relationship that they had. On the morning of September 11, Miss Pickrell shot Mr. Demary with a semi-automatic pistol in the back.”

Kershaw County Coroner Johnny Fellers reported at the time of the incident that Demary bled to death from the shot, which he said punctured a lung, the heart and aorta. Pauling told Manning the investigation found Demary was unarmed when he was shot. Deputies arrested Pickrell the following day.

Demary’s mother, Audrey Liles, appeared in court Wednesday and asked Manning to keep Pickrell in jail.

“She don’t need no bond. She took the life of my child. He wasn’t a bad child,” she said. “I just don’t feel she deserves bond.”

John Delgado, one of Pickrell’s two defense attorneys, said she suffered a long and documented history of abuse by Demary.

“The dark events of September 11 are the culmination of six years of an abusive relationship,” Delgado claimed.

Attorney William Cox said Pickrell told him she had two cell phones and a digital audio recorder with photos and sound of Demary’s abuse in her home, but he doesn’t know if Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office investigators had found the devices or examined their contents.

Delgado also claimed KCDC personnel denied him access to Pickrell and said she should be freed on bond to help her defense team with her case.

“The (jail) does not let the lawyers in after 6 p.m.,” Delgado said. “One weekend I tried to see her on Sunday and could not see her.”

The KCDC website says appointments for visits must be made between 10 a.m. and noon Monday through Friday, and visitations are on Saturdays and Sundays, but no specific hours are listed.